What was Archimedes’ death ray? How many words do dogs understand? Would a bird be able to fly in space? How does a camera flash work? Find out these answer and thousands more with the great online resource HowStuffWorks by the Discovery Channel.

With the increase of internet usage by children at home and at school, teachers should ensure that steps are taken to protect learners from all types of online risks that can pose a serious threat information and data stored on computers. The free GetSmarter Guide to Online Safety includes advice on all types of online risks, and offers plenty of practical advice on keeping yourself and your data even more secure.

This ultra cool science periodic table is great for a quick summary for each element. Clicking on an element in the periodic table gives you background information about the element. It’s an excellent, interactive way of helping learners both remember and understand the elements.

Teachers are on a technological front line – school children are becoming ever more adept at using the web for everything from socialising to doing their homework, and are beginning to resist what they consider “old fashioned” teaching methods. Teachers must find a way to engage them on their own terms, but often lack the web skills and experience to do so effectively. The solution is to get a comprehensive web education. GetSmarter’s UCT Internet Super-User course gives you just that.

It is nine o’clock at a certain secondary school in the township: typical school hours. The school is surrounded by a barbed wire fence that has holes punched in at its various “strategic” points; and the huge dysfunctional iron gate does not work anymore and is therefore unlocked. Apart from the natural blessing of a thorn hedge that seemingly surrounds the school; there are traces of overgrazing throughout the entire yard of the school; in fact, one could easily mistake this school for an abandoned farmhouse.

A great video showing traditional teaching methods. Yawn.

In my opinion, teaching is one of the most demanding and difficult of all jobs. The internet is making things a little easier though. We’ve searched the web high and low to find some useful online applications and resources that integrate well into the school environment. If you’re a tech savvy teacher, you’ll most likely find some of these tools to be really useful.

There is much confusion about the actual changes to the school curriculum in 2011 and beyond. I for one am happy to be referring to “learning areas” as “subjects” again! Here is the official statement from the Department of Basic Education concerning the changes taking place to the curriculum. Share it with your colleagues who may still be in the dark.

Many years ago I decided something had to be done about the scrappy, incomplete and useless literature notebooks belonging to my weaker pupils. Every year it was the same story. The year would start off well: logical, legible notes would be written in the first two, or maybe three, pages but gradually, as books were left at home or someone was absent or the day was hot and I was boring, the notes descended into chaos.

“Sir, this is the most boring book I’ve ever read!”  I chirped my matric English teacher. “It’s got no relevance to us,” I continued as we plodded our way through another double period taking turns to read sections from “Shades”, our English set work book. The monotonous drone that was the tone in which most [...]

For many years as a careers counsellor I begged pupils to stay on at school and to achieve the best Matric pass that they could. And I trotted out the usual argument about being more employable. Then the National Department of Education announced that compulsory schooling ended with Grade 9 and that pupils could enter the labour market with a Grade 9 certificate. What labour market?

The replacement of the old Senior Certificate with the new National Senior Certificate (NSC) in 2008 was greeted with considerable suspicion. Once the results of the first cohort was released, various commentators speculated in the press about the standard of the examination and its associated curriculum. Are these fears warranted?

Most schools decide that the only thing that should be taught in a computer centre is computer related skills. Are there common guidelines for what needs to be taught/covered/acquired by the time a learner graduates to grade 8? Most schools follow their own ’syllabus’, some (at huge expense) pay for programs which very cleverly link the curriculum to computer literacy, and others still are not sure what skills they should be doing at all. What does the Education Department have to say about this?

A few hints on teaching in an interactive and engaging manner.

Many classrooms leave much to be desired. Naked walls, where some have graffiti from the learners, filth messed on floors, chalkboards full of chalk powder and wooden cabinets heavy laden with dust. Old documents and scrap books sprawled on the teacher’s table, and everything that you can think of that injects you with the energy that simply says: “Keep as far out of this classroom as you possibly can”.

Leka ho nka leeto mehopolong ya hao, mme o tsepamise maikutlo a hao makgetlong kaofela ao o nnileng wa etela ngaka. Hopola botebo ba bohloko bo neng bo o qositse ho etela ngaka, ho farasa ha maikutlo a hao le takatso ya ho shwa nakwana e le hore bohloko bona bo thethefale kapa hona ho fela. Ana o ka dumela hore phetoho ya bohloko e bileng teng nako eo o kenang fela ka phaphosi ya ngaka, le pele ngaka e ka o tshwara, e ne e bakilwe ke boemo ba phaphosi eo ka sebele?

A key requirement for successful learning is that teaching should be interactive, i.e. that the learner is active during the process and not just the teacher. One of the most important ways of teaching interactively is to use effective questioning techniques. This is based on brain theories: The consensus among cognitive scientists (since B F Skinner) is that the mind seeks to find meaning, which is done through patterning. To achieve this, the mind must be active during the learning process. Here are some guides regarding successful questioning techniques …

If you’re a teacher stuck in the dark age, perhaps you should watch this video … if you know how.

Explanation on perimeter.

Englishnet is a new website created by English teachers, for English teachers. It was created specifically to host resources for the teaching of the  South African English Language curriculum. This website offers a range of resources from lesson plans, to programmes of assessment, electronic marksheets, specific lessons on the prescribed literature, etc. It also has [...]